by Marilyn Muir, LPMAFA
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
About three years ago, I wrote an article for AFA entitled “Death of a Diva: Whitney Houston”, a salute to an amazing singer who died tragically and so young. Yesterday Whitney’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, died in an accident involving drowning followed by a lengthy coma, eerily similar to the death of her mother three years earlier. The tragedy of this family deserves our heart-felt condolences for their double loss and suffering. Astrologically, it is time to go to school. First we will examine the specifics, then the astrology. The three birth charts are Rodden AA rated.
Whitney Houston was born August 9, 1963 at 8:55 PM EDT, Newark, New Jersey. On February 11, 2012 Whitney was found unconscious in her hotel room in Beverly Hills, California. Paramedics arrived at about 3:30 PM and she was pronounced dead at 3:55 PM. Her death was deemed to be a fall into a bathtub of hot water combined with possibility of drug use and atherosclerotic heart disease, which caused Whitney to drown. Death was deemed accidental.
Bobbi Kristina Brown was born March 4, 1993 at 11:38 am in Livingston, New Jersey. On January 31, 2015 Bobbi was found unconscious face down in a bathtub in her Georgia home. She was alive and breathing, transported to the hospital in Roswell and placed in a medically induced coma. There was no evidence of drugs nor alcohol reported. Her boyfriend and a friend found her and he (not they) are under suspicion*. Bobbi was moved to a hospice care facility and removed from machine dependency. She died yesterday, July 26, 2015 at age 22.
Bobbi was also the daughter of singer Bobby Brown born February 5, 1969 at 5:21 AM in Boston, Massachusetts.
All by itself, this is more than enough information for a full relationship, composite, synastry workup, but I will leave this part to others because what struck my interest were two other areas of astrology: 1) diurnal charting and 2) does the chart live on after death? I have done extensive research on both subjects and have educational workbooks in process. I will use diurnal charting to illustrate its value and that the chart does live on despite death.
The type of diurnal chart I use (and I have encountered several techniques) is very basic. Diurnal means day so it is a chart of the transits for the day including a midheaven and ascendant and that makes it intensely personal. It is my favorite technique for rectification. Input the natal chart details into your computer program or hand cast if you can. Changing only the date (nothing else) to the date of the event you are examining, cast the personal diurnal chart. Be sure to label it as diurnal for an event because the program will run it as a natal. Be careful not to replace your original natal in your program when you save.
We have several possibilities to examine. We have the birth and death of an individual: Bobbi. We have the birth chart, with death of a child with parent living: Bobby. We have the birth chart, with death of a child with parent deceased: Whitney. This article will look at each individually.
For considerations of writing space we will stay simple: diurnal to natal. Use natal chart death indicators, tight aspects. Primary indicators will involve the angles in some fashion. You can insert progressions as well if you choose: read diurnal to progression and progression to natal.
Starting with the simplest, the birth and death of an individual (Bobbi), we can construct two diurnals if we choose, date of accident and date of death almost six months later. I chose death.
Natal promise: Bobbi’s natal has a very difficult death house: Capricorn on the cusp, Neptune conjunct Uranus as occupants both opposition Moon, all square Venus. Venus also happens to be widely opposite Jupiter. Mars is in the first house of the physical body square that Jupiter. Saturn, ruler of natal 8th square Pluto and quincunx that Moon. Again, this is natal promise.
Watch the angles… Diurnal Uranus in 6th (illness) opposing diurnal ascendant square diurnal Mars, all in stress to the natal death signature. Diurnal Pluto triggers natal Mars square Jupiter. Diurnal Jupiter opposes natal Saturn both square natal Pluto. Diurnal Jupiter squares diurnal Saturn; diurnal Moon just past diurnal Saturn (about 8 hours on the day’s clock): time of death?
Remember this is a person in a coma with almost six months between the coma and the death. These outer transits (diurnal positions) do heavy stations for several months. Separating aspects relate to ongoing process, what is past or passing. Applying to exact relate to current to future processes and events. I think Bobbi’s death is pretty specific as a diurnal example.
Father Bobby Brown is alive and well, most likely in enormous personal pain – my prayers for the man and his family. Natal: Bobby’s children (he has several) are 5th house in general. Death of children is 8th of 5th or his 12th house (derivative house system). Look also at his death house for death in general. Note: with several children you would want to learn birth order then use the derivative house system for more individual detailed research. Natal Mercury rules the 5th, no occupants, Mercury is intercepted in the 1st, no natal stress aspects but does rule the 8th house as well. Eighth house occupants: Moon/Pluto conjunction quincunx Saturn. part of natal Yod including Mars. South Node/Uranus/ Jupiter conjunction opposed Venus. Natal promise.
Diurnal midheaven square natal Mercury, diurnal nodes are opposing natal nodes triggering the natal nodal/Uranus/Jupiter/Venus grouping. There is more but my personal impression is that Bobby lost his daughter almost six months earlier at the time of the accident. I would suggest setting a diurnal for that date to give a fuller answer. What died was not the daughter he knew and loved. That lovely girl was long gone. Death just put the period at the end of the sentence.
And now…to answer the question of whether or not the natal chart is ongoing and survives the death of the person we will look at Whitney’s diurnal for Bobbi’s death. Whitney’s natal promise for death of child. Bobbi was Whitney’s only child so she is represented by the 5th house with Cancer on the cusp and occupied by the North Node. The child’s death house is the 8th of the 5th or Whitney’s 11th, Aquarius on the cusp, Saturn as occupant. Whitney’s deaths in general and Whitney’s personal death in particular is her natal 8th/Libra with Neptune as occupant. Natal Neptune is square the Venus/Sun wide to Sun and that Sun is also opposite Saturn. All are square Neptune, some widely. Wide Uranus/Descendant/Mercury/Pluto conjunction (stellium).
Diurnal Moon is conjunct diurnal midheaven square diurnal Neptune/1st, very wide square diurnal Venus. They are all in stress aspect to that natal Uranus. Diurnal Ascendant 3˚ to conjunct natal Saturn. Diurnal Neptune opposes natal descendant/Mercury/Pluto conjunction. Diurnal Uranus is conjunct natal Moon/Jupiter conjunction. Diurnal Mars just passed opposition to natal south node. Diurnals rock! Quite definitely Whitney’s natal chart is still working three years after Whitney’s death.
Looking at the time stretch involved in this comparison. Bobbi’s accident and subsequent coma and death as an ongoing process had immediate effect on her and her Father’s charts. Perhaps there was more effect on his chart at the time he experienced the loss of the child he knew and loved. Since Whitney is in Spirit (I do believe in survival of consciousness), this is not truly a loss to her. She and Bobbi can now be together in Spirit. Father Bobby gets to do the very human mourning process… again!
See also “Death of a Diva” article about Whitney Houston and Death.
*Resource (after the fact): Article: People Digital Sep 16, 2016, Nick Gordon ruled legally responsible for Bobbi’s death
Published in AFA Today’s Astrologer August 2015 vol77#8, republished with slight editing.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.